gfranken's blog

I've always been a diehard KDE user. When I first tried Linux several years ago, I experimented with both Gnome and KDE, and, for me, KDE just seemed to be a better fit. So, I've been trying to decide when to switch my home production machine from the KDE 3 series to KDE 4. Finally, last week, I made the switch...

As Mandriva prepares for its 2009 release, I've been updating Mandriva 2009 daily from their "cooker" (development) repository ever since I installed a beta version a few weeks ago. Last night's update was massive, with an update of over 350 packages.

Mandriva released the 2009 Beta 1 iso's on July 29th. I downloaded the i586 version then. Since then, hundreds of software updates, patches, and fixes have been placed into Mandriva's "Cooker" repositories, Cooker being Mandriva's name for it's development branch.

How are things shaping up for the Mandriva 2009 release? And how's KDE 4.1 working on this new release?

My daughter is getting married this Summer, and she purchased some weird Avery return address labels for invitees to RSVP whether they plan to attend. The labels have an Avery number of 18195. I have no MS-Windows workstations at home, and I couldn't find an Openoffice.org Writer template for this particular label stock. What to do?

Anyone else notice lately how good Wine is getting? No, of course I'm not talking about the beverage. Last year, Wine would only "sorta" work with the ClassXP software. This school year is a different story.

I come from a Mandriva/Mandrake/PCLinuxOS background. I'm a KDE guy who also installs gnome apps. I've not ever installed Debian, and I've used Debian derived distros very little. So, how does Sidux measure up for me?

I can recall when a new impending release from Mandrake/Mandriva was great cause for excitement. In the last few years, Mandriva has been on the decline. Could the upcoming 2008 release start to turn things around?

Yes, it's a genuine miracle. In a scientific study by reputable scientists Borg Benderle and Lamer DiDiot (both affiliated with Shuttlecock University), the study found that sniffing powdered Ubuntu CDs brings about a dramatic reduction in the size of cancer tumors.

I wonder if there is a survey that has information on how many different distros a typical Linux user has used over that last 5 years? Of course, I mean more than just an install trial where you experiment with a distro for a few days, then wipe or replace that distro.

For me, that number is a fairly conservative two. And one of those two distros is the (grown up) child of another.

Sabayon Linux is a Gentoo based distribution that is designed to be easy to install and configure. Savvy Linux users know that Gentoo is a "roll your own" distribution where you create your own distro from scratch--installing and compiling all your programs. They say you learn a lot of Linux by doing a Gentoo install, and that you end up with a very speedy system optimized to your specific needs.

What about those of us who want to try the Gentoo experience without taking several days to get it up and running?

At the high school where I teach Web Page Design, Computer Programming, and Computer Literacy, it is Novell Netware Servers that provide our primary network services. This is also true in our school district's two middle schools, 6 elementary schools, the alternative school, as well as at the district office administration building. So, a Linux distribution that operates well as a Novell Netware client is essential.

However, the large majority of our workstations are Windows XP, so good MS Windows/Samba networking is also required.

With Novell now owning SUSE, and the importance of good Novell clients workstations at my high school, the choice of OpenSUSE should be a no-brainer. And, with Jeremy Allison (who works for SUSE) being one of the core Samba developers from the beginning, OpenSUSE should have very good up to date MS Windows networking support.

The computer lab we were using at Western Oregon University had Windows XP on all the machines. The first day of class, I used Win-XP for a few minutes--but I just couldn't stand it anymore . . . I whipped-out my PCLinuxOS CD I'd brought along with me, and proceeded to install Linux on the machine . . .

More in Tux Machines

With only two days left until the upcoming Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark) operating system hits the Final Beta milestone, developers are still working on adding finishing touches to this release, and they've again improved the Ubuntu Dock.

NethServer's Alessio Fattorini just informed us today about the availability of the first Beta release of the upcoming NethServer 7.4 Linux server-oriented operating system, which is based on CentOS 7.4 and comes with various improvements.

Firefox takes a Quantum leap forward with new developer edition

Earlier this year we wrote about Project Quantum, Mozilla's work to modernize Firefox and rebuild it to handle the needs of the modern Web.
Today, that work takes a big step toward the mainstream with the release of the new Firefox 57 developer edition. The old Firefox developer edition was based on the alpha-quality Aurora channel, which was two versions ahead of the stable version. In April, Mozilla scrapped the Aurora channel, and the developer edition moved to being based on the beta channel. The developer edition is used by a few hundred thousand users each month and is for the most part identical to the beta, except it has a different theme by default—a dark theme instead of the normal light one—and changes a few default settings in ways that developers tend to prefer.